Congratulations to Laila Shishineh, Assistant Director of FYE in the Office of Undergraduate Education and fellow member of Phi Kappa Phi, for receiving the USM Women’s Forum (USMWF) Award for Professional Development. The USMWF award serves to support staff in their pursuit of professional training and/or development. With this award, Laila was able to travel to Denver, CO to present at the Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education (NODA) Annual conference.

Her accepted proposal for the conference was to present on a unique process used at UMBC to hire diverse pools of students for three leadership positions on campus including Orientation Peer Advisors (OPAs), Welcome Week Leaders (Woolies), and IHU/TRS Peer Facilitators.

In addition to her full-time job at UMBC, Laila is also a part-time doctoral student at Frostburg State University pursuing a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Higher Education Leadership. One of the requirements for her program was to present at a professional conference so this award has not only enabled her to continue her support of UMBC’s undergraduate life, but also supports her as she pursues her own personal and professional development.

The USMWF was impressed by Laila commitment to her role at UMBC and being an advocate for staff through her many involvements on campus. Laila was invited to membership in Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society as a result of her dedication and leadership and it is obvious that she has continued to demonstrate these qualities since then! We wish her all the best and thank her for her integral role at UMBC!